• About
  • Blog
    • All Contributors
    • MEN
      • Daniel Archibald | HEALTH & FITNESS
      • David Bink | ANATOMY & HEALTH
      • David Loiseau | FITNESS & HEALTH
      • Dean Brandt | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • Eric Morrison | NUTRITION & WEIGHT LOSS
      • Evan Ward | HUMAN KINETICS & NUTRITION
      • Gregory Lalonde | PERSONAL STYLE CONSULTANT
      • James Barry | CULINARY ARTS
      • Jay Zuccato | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • John Pedulla | HAIR & BEAUTY
      • Mark McKoy | FITNESS
      • Dr. Mike Carragher | AGE MANAGEMENT & WELLNESS
      • Steven J. Wong
      • Dr. Terrence Lemay | CHIROPRACTIC & ACUPUNTURE
    • WOMEN
      • Amanda Kotel | EXERCISE SCIENCE & NUTRITION
      • Anne Day | LIFE CHANGE
      • C S Bromley | HOLISTIC HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Carmelia Ray | DATING & RELATIONSHIPS
      • Caroline Cowan-Mujkic | HOLISTIC NUTRITION
      • Catherine Garceau | WELLNESS & LIFE CHANGE
      • Che Marville | MEDITATION
      • Cherry Villanos | HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Dayna Stoddart | FITNESS & WELLNESS
      • Denise Pala | YOGA
      • Diana Todd | WEIGHT LOSS & FITNESS
      • Elena Spina | AGING WITH POWER
      • Fay Chapple | LIFE CHANGE
      • Gillian Mandich | HEALTH & WELLNESS
      • Giselle Curcio | SKINCARE & COSMETICS
      • Gorretti Francisco | HEALTH & FITNESS
      • Jasmin Chase | HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Jennifer Van Barneveld | ONLINE TRAINER & DIET COACH
      • Joelle Malette | FITNESS & WELLNESS
      • Krista Banik | MASSAGE THERAPY
      • Kristin Cavarzan | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • Lauren Jacobsen | SPORTS SUPPLEMENTATION
      • Leigh Brandt | FITNESS & HEALTH
      • Liz Martino | YOUTH HEALTH & FITNESS
      • Margaret Floyd | NUTRITION
      • Monika Kovacs | YOGA & WELLNESS
      • Nichelle Laus | FITNESS & WEIGHT LOSS
      • Dr. Sara Solomon | THE FAT BLASTING DOCTOR
      • Spenser Chapple | THE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE
      • Stacey Macdonald | ENERGY HEALING & REIKI
      • Stephanie Joanne | FITNESS & PRO-ACTIVE HEALTH
  • Episodes
  • Topics
  • Contact

ANTI-AGE ME | Revealing the Secrets to Living the Highest Quality of Life

REVEALING THE SECRETS TO LIVING LONGER & LIVING BETTER

  • Blog
  • All Contributors
  • Sponsors

How Books have Shaped my Life

0
  • by Anne Day
  • in Blogs · Lifestyle
  • — 31 May, 2013

Growing up I always had my nose in a book. I loved reading, enjoying the way the stories would allow me to learn, glimpse into another world and sometimes escape my own. I’ve also found comfort and words of wisdom in the pages of some of the books I have read. I wonder if writers ever learn what an impact their thoughts and reflections have on their readers?

I ask this question because of the passing of Susan Jeffers, probably best known for her best-selling book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, a book that sits proudly in my library. But it was one of her other books, that had a profound impact on me.

I was staying with my mother at the time, helping her recuperate and recover from her mastectomy. Early on she slept a lot, so I had time to read, and I picked up End the Struggle and Dance with Life. In it Susan talks about having breast cancer, so it seemed an appropriate read at the time but it was her words “When we focus on abundance, our life feels abundant; when we focus on lack, our life feels lacking. It is simply a matter of focus.” that have always stayed with me.

How true they are. We spend much of our lives bemoaning our lot, wanting more, seeking change, completely ignoring all that we already have in our lives that is beautiful, meaningful and that truly matters. Life is short, and when we focus on what we don’t have, we detract from being in the now, being present in our daily lives.

As I reflected on the wisdom of Susan’s words, I realized that there are other books that have also caused me to stop and think. One is Tuesdays with Morrie, another classic in my opinion. Morrie, who is learning to live as he dies, shares that death is the end of a life, not a relationship. What a comforting thought. No one can take away the memories you have of times with a loved one.

For Joan Anderson, it was actually time away from a loved one that caused her to make changes in her life. In A Walk on the Beach, she tells the story of when she decided to take a year’s sabbatical from her marriage, and what she learned about herself. As a middle-aged woman, she had devoted years to raising her children and fostering her marriage, but she felt as a result that she’d lost herself and her true essence.

On the beach she meets an older woman who becomes her mentor. They form a deep friendship through which she learns that she was spending too much time in her head, and needed to get on with living her life, rather than looking at it from the outside in. We can all probably think of friends who overthink what to do. In fact it probably revolves back to fear; fear of making the wrong decision.

While it was Joan’s story that resonated with me, it was Oriah Mountain Dreamer’s words in The Invitation that struck a chord. When she talks about not caring about where you live, what you do or who you studied with, it is like she is peeling away the onionskin to get to the real you.

Sadly so often we wear masks and are too quick to make judgments on other people based on external factors, not stopping to look at what is inside the person. But Oriah doesn’t care. She wants to know “what sustains you from the inside, when all else falls away,” and “if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.” Big questions.

All four books have a similar message — to be true to yourself and live your life to the fullest. We can get so caught up in the minutia of day to day living, that we forget to give thanks for what we have. As Susan Jeffers said “It’s not that beauty doesn’t exist in our world, it’s that we seldom seem to notice.”

My thanks go to Susan Jeffers for her wisdom, her words and her courage to put pen to paper to share her innermost thoughts with the rest of us.

What about you? What books have brought meaning to your life?

By Anne Day
FacebookEmailShare/Bookmark
Share
  • Previous story It’s a scorcher in Toronto but it’s no coincidence!
  • Next story The Myth of the Natural Sweetener
  • SUBSCRIBE NOW FOR EXCLUSIVE NEWS & UPDATES

  • Facebook

  • Optimize your Health so you can Enjoy Life!

    Energy Medicine
  • Archives

    • March 2016 (4)
    • February 2016 (8)
    • January 2016 (9)
    • December 2015 (11)
    • November 2015 (8)
    • October 2015 (8)
    • September 2015 (8)
    • August 2015 (8)
    • July 2015 (10)
    • June 2015 (7)
    • May 2015 (7)
    • April 2015 (12)
    • March 2015 (15)
    • February 2015 (13)
    • January 2015 (16)
    • December 2014 (21)
    • November 2014 (26)
    • October 2014 (26)
    • September 2014 (26)
    • August 2014 (27)
    • July 2014 (28)
    • June 2014 (28)
    • May 2014 (28)
    • April 2014 (26)
    • March 2014 (26)
    • February 2014 (24)
    • January 2014 (28)
    • December 2013 (27)
    • November 2013 (26)
    • October 2013 (26)
    • September 2013 (26)
    • August 2013 (27)
    • July 2013 (28)
    • June 2013 (28)
    • May 2013 (28)
    • April 2013 (29)
    • March 2013 (21)
  • Energy Medicine
  • Tags

    Age Management Medicine Anne Day Anti-Age Anti-AgeMe Anti-Aging Body Body Well Clinic Chakras Che Marville Clarity Centre Denise Pala Dr. Mike Carragher Exercise Fay Chapple Fitness Health HGH Hormones Life Change Life Coach Lifestyle Meditation Nichelle Laus Organization Reiki Revitalize Self-Healing Spenser Chapple Stacey MacDonald Steven J. Wong Strength training Testosterone Weight Lifting Welln Wellness Yoga
  • Recent Posts

    • How To Get A Six-Pack In One Month
    • I Wish I Knew These 15 Tricks To Waking Up Earlier
    • 10 Health Benefits Of Sex That Will Surprise You
    • 13 Gluten-Free Recipes That Will Make You Drool
    • Embrace the pain, avoid the injury.
  • ANTI-AGE ME is a gripping story that documents a number of universal themes – the fading of beauty, the realization of mortality, and the search for answers to living the highest quality of life – in STEVEN’s year and a half long journey. The film closely captures the scientific and tangible results of the program while examining any increase in quality of life – and any side effects. ANTI-AGE ME will juxtapose these new forms of anti-aging medicine with other methods of health and fitness.
  • About
  • Blog
    • All Contributors
    • MEN
      • Daniel Archibald | HEALTH & FITNESS
      • David Bink | ANATOMY & HEALTH
      • David Loiseau | FITNESS & HEALTH
      • Dean Brandt | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • Eric Morrison | NUTRITION & WEIGHT LOSS
      • Evan Ward | HUMAN KINETICS & NUTRITION
      • Gregory Lalonde | PERSONAL STYLE CONSULTANT
      • James Barry | CULINARY ARTS
      • Jay Zuccato | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • John Pedulla | HAIR & BEAUTY
      • Mark McKoy | FITNESS
      • Dr. Mike Carragher | AGE MANAGEMENT & WELLNESS
      • Steven J. Wong
      • Dr. Terrence Lemay | CHIROPRACTIC & ACUPUNTURE
    • WOMEN
      • Amanda Kotel | EXERCISE SCIENCE & NUTRITION
      • Anne Day | LIFE CHANGE
      • C S Bromley | HOLISTIC HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Carmelia Ray | DATING & RELATIONSHIPS
      • Caroline Cowan-Mujkic | HOLISTIC NUTRITION
      • Catherine Garceau | WELLNESS & LIFE CHANGE
      • Che Marville | MEDITATION
      • Cherry Villanos | HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Dayna Stoddart | FITNESS & WELLNESS
      • Denise Pala | YOGA
      • Diana Todd | WEIGHT LOSS & FITNESS
      • Elena Spina | AGING WITH POWER
      • Fay Chapple | LIFE CHANGE
      • Gillian Mandich | HEALTH & WELLNESS
      • Giselle Curcio | SKINCARE & COSMETICS
      • Gorretti Francisco | HEALTH & FITNESS
      • Jasmin Chase | HEALTH & BEAUTY
      • Jennifer Van Barneveld | ONLINE TRAINER & DIET COACH
      • Joelle Malette | FITNESS & WELLNESS
      • Krista Banik | MASSAGE THERAPY
      • Kristin Cavarzan | FITNESS & NUTRITION
      • Lauren Jacobsen | SPORTS SUPPLEMENTATION
      • Leigh Brandt | FITNESS & HEALTH
      • Liz Martino | YOUTH HEALTH & FITNESS
      • Margaret Floyd | NUTRITION
      • Monika Kovacs | YOGA & WELLNESS
      • Nichelle Laus | FITNESS & WEIGHT LOSS
      • Dr. Sara Solomon | THE FAT BLASTING DOCTOR
      • Spenser Chapple | THE YOUTH PERSPECTIVE
      • Stacey Macdonald | ENERGY HEALING & REIKI
      • Stephanie Joanne | FITNESS & PRO-ACTIVE HEALTH
  • Episodes
  • Topics
  • Contact

© Copyright 2021 ANTI-AGE ME | Revealing the Secrets to Living the Highest Quality of Life. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.